Rice and buckwheat flour characterisation and its relation to cookie quality

Formulations of gluten-free cookies based on rice and buckwheat flour in three different ratios, 90/10, 80/20 and 70/30, were developed. The aim of this research was to characterise physicochemical properties of buckwheat and rice flour as raw materials in gluten-free cookie formulation and its relationship with final product quality. Chemical and electrophoretic analyses indicated that gluten-free flours exhibited similar protein/starch ratio and more narrow protein molecular weight range in comparison to wheat flour. On contrary, mean particle size of rice and buckwheat flour was higher in comparison to wheat flour, while the damage starch content was lower. The gluten-free cookies were prepared at pilot scale and their colour and sensory attributes were compared to wheat‐containing sample. Combination of rice as the brightest flour and buckwheat as the darkest has yielded the cookies of non‐significant difference in lightness in comparison to wheat cookie. On contrary, gluten-free flours and cookies showed significantly lower yellowness values than their wheat‐containing counterpart. Increase in the amount of buckwheat flour resulted in a decrease in cookie yellowness. Moreover, raise in buckwheat flour content from 10 to 20% resulted in an increase in sensory scores for flavour, rupture and chewiness. Scanning electron micrographs revealed cohesive structure of gluten-free cookies indicating adequate raw material selection, component ratio, as well as processing conditions.

Research Highlights► Rice and buckwheat flours can successfully replace wheat flour in gluten-free cookies. ► Their mixtures exhibit similar chemical composition to wheat flour. ► These flours were characterized with coarser particle size than wheat flour. ► Scanning electron micrographs also revealed adequate gluten-free ingredients selection. ► Cookies with 20% buckwheat flour were sensory the most acceptable.